Corn Blue Moon
by Youkoma Inari
Summary: Naruto proves successful in the Sasuke Retrieval Arc... however he cannot handle the consequences, and asks Tsunade for a vacation. So, he heads off for Wave Country. But the forces he'll find there will prove to be anywhere near what he'd ask for.


**Corn Blue Moon**

_A Naruto fanfiction written by Youkoma Inari_

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_DISCLAIMER_

The acclaimed manga series, _Naruto_, belongs to **Masashi Kishimoto** and its publishers.

This story has been written in the purpose of entertainment. No monetary gain is involved, nor am I claiming ownership over any _Copyright_ characters or concepts.

All original characters and concepts in this story belong to me, **Youkoma Inari**.

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"Character talking" _'Character thinking'_

"**Demon/Deity/Creature talking" **_**'Demon/Deity/Creature thinking'**_

-_Background Noise_- '**Technique Name'**

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Naruto couldn't help the groan that escaped him as he hefted the heavy package, trying to accommodate it better on his sore shoulders. Shuffling the bag across his back, the boy squinted at the horizon, trying to see just how long he had left before he reached his destination.

As the blonde stood there, peering at an unforeseen goal hidden by the canopies of the trees surrounding him, he once again wondered why he was even here and not back in the comfort of his apartment, despite the fact that he knew he'd arrive at the same conclusion (or would that be excuse?) every time.

A vacation. That was what he'd told Tsunade. Time to get away from the chaos of his home, to center himself after the shit storm that had been his latest mission. To get away from the heated glares, the cold shoulders, the insults thrown at his back that slowly chipped away at his self-esteem...

In short, all the things that he had no trouble ignoring before, just bouncing off of his cheery façade, but all of a sudden bit too deeply into his skin recently. And he needed time to figure out why. Thus, a vacation.

Of course, Uzumaki Naruto wasn't running away. Of course not! He just… needed some time to himself. Yes… that was it. He wasn't a coward… he was going to be Hokage, after all! A coward would never have any chance of becoming Hokage.

But… even super kick ass ninjas needed time to themselves, after all. Especially after their supposedly best friend and rival goes berserk, tried to flee the village to go and literally land himself into the hands of some freaky snake pedophile for power, and wound up punching two lightning coated fists through your abdomen when you went and try to stop him from making the worst mistake of his life.

Yeah… he doubted even Tsunade would get over that, even if Shizune let her use the village budget to go on a rampant beer-fest guaranteed to last an entire month before the village treasury went dry.

Not to mention all the collateral damage caused by the retrieval. Albeit successful in the end, the mission had all the makings of the shittiest mission of a lifetime. Their squad leader, Nara Shikamaru, got off with light wounds, but the rest came back home near dead; almost completely in one Akimichi Chouji's and Hyuuga Neji's case, one from lethal chakra exhaustion and the other because of an arrow lodged in the back of his neck.

Heck, if it hadn't been for the children of the former Kazekage -Subaku Gaara, Temari and Kankuro- the entire team would have come back to their home inside of body bags instead.

Not to mention that all participants of the mission were coincidentally children and heirs of some of Konoha's greatest ninja clans, excluding poor orphaned Naruto. One could hear the clan heads bellowing at poor Tsunade for weeks when they found out about that.

Even worse was the fact that already word of the mission was spreading throughout the Elemental Countries, laying waste to Konoha's "most loyal Shinobi" reputation. Most likely Orochimaru's work, born out of spite at having his plans foiled, the news spread doubt into civilians around Fire Country, causing less and less missions to pour into Konoha, meaning less economy.

Or, as Sakura had so diligently explained to him by way of violent fist-to-the-head the other day, less money for Konoha. Money that could be used to speed up the rebuilding of their once precious village, now horribly weakened by the recent invasion by both of the Sound and Sand villages.

Understandably, the biggest fucking shit storm of the century.

However, Naruto didn't care about that. Being such a simple-minded and naïve boy, he just focused on what was relevant to him: in a nutshell, his thoughts went like the following at the time:

"_Nobody died, so everything's okay. The mission was a success, so things are even better. I got to kick Sasuke's ass, so things are awesome!"_

Of course, afterwards came the consequences of the mission, and that was what bothering our favorite blonde container.

First of all on his mind was Uchiha Sasuke. The very thought of his former best friend made Naruto sick to the stomach, and his sight to bleed red. That tends to happen when said person tries his damned best to kill you when all you're trying to do is help.

Ignoring that, let's focus on what happened to said Uchiha. After being soundly beaten by Naruto and dragged back to the village, escorted by their jounin-sensei Hatake Kakashi, the Uchiha's chakra coils were promptly sealed away by the jinchurikki's other teacher, Jiraiya, then sent to the dungeons so that he could heal for his upcoming hearing. Said healing took two weeks to commence, as having his chakra sealed made his regeneration go slower than normal, and because as a traitor Sasuke received his just desserts and was treated as one, heritage and spooky eyes be damned.

Once the Uchiha was well enough to be brought to trial, Tsunade brought down the hammer, and with support from most of the council (the ones whose heirs were involved in the mission and almost died as a result were exceptionally vocal) sentenced Sasuke to be stripped of his ninja rank, his headband destroyed, his chakra permanently sealed along with his Sharingan, and for his property to be taken away and added to the village coffers. Then, she literally locked the Uchiha away in Konoha's deepest dungeons so as to prevent Orochimaru from getting cocky enough to send another team to retrieve the Uchiha.

A pretty harsh sentence, but not many people were complaining. Deserters and traitors to ninja villages are usually executed upon trial; the only reason they let Sasuke off was because he was the last wielder of the Sharingan inside Konoha, and the council was damned if they were going to let such a valuable blood limit die off.

Of course, some civilians on the council tried to lessen the punishment, but they didn't get far: Sasuke's fate could only be decided by the ninja part of the council. And that was that.

Sasuke didn't go off quietly though, and he screamed all the way as ANBU dragged him off. Yelling inanities, such as "getting power to kill his brother", "having to honor his clan", and what not. Then he dropped the bomb on the council-

Sasuke yelled about the strange red power that Naruto used to defeat him.

Which brings us to the second part of the thoughts weighing on Naruto's mind: the various reactions from the council and the other genin gathered at the trial, and the following events.

In a nutshell, the council was terrified at the thought that Naruto was starting to gain control off the Kyuubi inside him, and feared that the boy would turn against them, given how shitty they made his life in the past. The genin gathered promptly demanded an explanation, leading to them discovering about Naruto's fate as a demon container. Reactions varied there, from surprise to shock to outright denial (which oddly hurt the most), but not one of Naruto's friends shunned him.

However, the fact that even Lee was hesitant to touch him after that revelation made him doubt their sincerity, and it horribly highlighted the feeling of isolation that he'd long since buried when he was young, dragging it back to the surface.

Following the trial, life went on. Naruto, in order to forget about recent events and the drowning loneliness, put his back into helping out around the village. That was when he noticed that people began to act differently around him.

Before, the civilians would mutter and glare at him without hesitation, even insult the blonde in his very presence. However, it seemed that they had gotten wind of the trial and the revelation that he was starting to tap into his tenant's chakra. Although the idea of him being "kyuubi reincarnate" was strengthened around the village, it actually helped to keep the violent mobs away from the blonde, instilling fear where before there was only anger.

People began to act more politely; shopkeepers that would have overcharged him or outright refused him service began to treat him like a normal customer, although they were always sweaty and fidgety in his presence. People whom always shoved him around on the street, even bully him, began to prefer to walk across the street instead. Even Shinobi that used to belittle him stayed quiet, not meeting him in the eye. And mothers that would have just ignored him and pass by with their children, even flaunt their relationship in his face, began to actively avoid him, always making sure that they were between him and their babies whereas before they wouldn't have cared.

Naruto was on a high for a while, thinking that finally people were starting to respect him as a Shinobi because of the treatment. However he eventually realized that it wasn't respect they were giving him; it was fear.

Fear he'd lash out and deal lethal harm. Fear that he'd look for compensation for how they'd treated him before. Fear that, should he try and follow any dark deeds, no one would help them, out of fear of attracting his ill will.

And that worked all the more to accent his status as pariah, making his loneliness even more painful. That was why he had asked Tsunade for this vacation, under the guise of a diplomat mission to surrounding allied countries.

Time to himself, so he could heal and bury his newfound loneliness… forget about the new fear he caused in his village, and hope that, by being away for a while, the villagers would revert back to their heated glares and dark mutterings, instead of their shaking bodies and sweaty smiles.

Because Naruto would prefer to be the Pariah, instead of the Tyrant.

And with that final thought, Naruto finally managed to settle his bag, and he continued on his way. His first stop: Wave Country, where he'd meet with Tazuna and, hopefully, the old geezer would put up with him for a while.

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_Next time, in Hellfire:_

_Xxx_

"_No way… you guys actually named the bridge after me?"_

"_Hahaha, of course kid, you're our hero after all! The hero of Wave, whom brought hope to our hearts and light to our eyes… how could we not name the thing after you?"_

_Xxx_

"_Hmm… you mean this island just popped out of nowhere?"_

"_Yeah kid. Just rose up from the seas and stayed there one night. We've tried sending people there, but… Well, they just keep getting sent back. It's pretty weird."_

_Xxx_

"_Hmm… what's this weird thingy? Looks like some tacky jewelry…"_

_Xxx_

_Chapter II_

_A Hero's Welcoming!_

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_Author's Notes:_

_This story came to me the other day when I was reading Chibi-Reaper's "Overlord", a Naruto / Disgaea crossover where Laharl decides to train a pre-Chuunin Exam Finals Naruto as his successor in order to alleviate his boredom. I really don't know how that sparked this flash of inspiration, but oh well…_

_Anyway, I know that this chapter sounds more like Naruto ranting for two hours, but I really wanted to clear out the background of the story first before I delved into the real story. Give good reasons as to why Naruto's outside of Konoha and whatnot._

_I do promise that next chapter will be a lot longer and have more to do with what I'm plotting… or, well, what the muses inside my head are singing anyway. I'll also_

_As usual, a shout out to everyone that reads this story:_

_Thank you for reading the first chapter of my newest work, and I hope that you review!_


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